Nemesis and the Troll King (4 page)

The woods were silent as they made their way out, but Yarg felt the hot stares from creatures that lurked within the hidden depths. “You don't need to come with me,” he said to Folgoo, needing the reassurance of conversation to chase away the unpleasant sensation of being watched by unseen eyes.

Folgoo turned his head slightly towards Yarg. “Yes, I do,” he said with quiet conviction.

Yarg nodded, understanding from the centaur's tone that Folgoo was not just obeying orders; for some reason the centaur had chosen to align himself with him.

“Then we shall have to travel faster. I am in a hurry to reach Nemesis before tomorrow's nightfall,” Yarg said. To match his words with deeds, he quickened his pace and moved ahead of the centaur.

Folgoo chuckled behind him. “Did I forget to mention that centaurs are blessed with a unique way of travelling?”

“What do you mean?” Yarg asked.

“We can travel within the blink of an eye.”

It took Yarg a few moments to realise that Folgoo had stopped behind him, then a few more before the meaning of the words registered in his mind. Yarg also came to a halt and turned to face Folgoo.

“What do you mean?” Yarg asked again.

Folgoo raised his face, a mischievous gleam radiating from his eyes. “Stand beside me, Yarg, and touch my back.”

Yarg walked back to where Folgoo stood grinning at him. Cautiously he placed his hand on the centaur's back. Folgoo uttered some words in a strange tongue. Before Yarg could take a breath, they were travelling within the tones of a wave, moving with the motion of the ocean, silver stands lifting high and then dipping low, the magic beyond Yarg's experience, and indescribably beautiful.

And then the wave stilled and they were standing in the Valley Mystic, home of Nemesis the Dragon.

4

The Quest

Y
arg breathed deeply, allowing the crisp air to filter into his lungs.

“That was absolutely amazing!” he said as he let go of Folgoo's back. “That's a very cool gift you have …” he began, then stopped as the scene before him literally took his breath away.

Thousands of the most beautiful flowers in a myriad of intensely vivid hues were scattered across the floor of the great valley, a floral carpet that drew the eye forward to the enormous lake that dominated the landscape. The lake's smooth surface mirrored the sky above so that the clouds appeared to drift within it. The light buzz of the insects that flitted between the flowers, and the soft susurration from a giant waterfall that flowed down a rockface and emptied into the lake at their left only added to the soothing peacefulness emanating from the valley.

Yarg tore his eyes away from the scene to glance at Folgoo, who seemed to be as affected as he was. Without words they walked slowly through the flowers to the lake's edge. Intent on finding the entrance to the cave where Nemesis made his home, which legend said lay behind the waterfall, Yarg walked into the lake.

Then realised that Folgoo had not joined him. He looked back over his shoulder and sent the centaur a questioning look, not wanting to break the peace with words. After a few more seconds with Folgoo still unmoving, Yarg was forced to speak, his words no more than a whisper on the air.

“Are you coming, Folgoo?”

Folgoo shook his head. “No troll, you have to do this bit by yourself.”

Shrugging his big shoulders in resignation, Yarg stepped further into the lake and dipped himself so that his whole body was covered. Then he began to swim towards the waterfall. The water was cool and silky-smooth against his skin, and it soothed him, draining tension away, almost as if it contained healing qualities. There was a fresh clean smell to it, and he could almost feel the grime and dirt being washed from his body. As he swam, he decided that he would insist on weekly baths when he finally made it back to his fellow trolls. Just because they were trolls didn't mean they had to stink! He almost swallowed half the lake laughing at the picture of himself telling Taliyard that he had to take a bath.

Yarg reached the entrance and heaved himself out of the water to sit on the ledge inside the waterfall. The cave was less than reassuring. The intense stench of sulphur hung heavily in the air and the walls near him were scorched black from flames.

Yarg waited until his eyesight adjusted to the dim light, then rose to move further into the cave. He had taken only a few steps when he heard a deep rumble.

“So you have finally sought me out, Yarg, King of the Trolls.”

Yarg could feel the dragon's hot, heavy breath close by, but he could not see him. Then Nemesis stepped out from the shadows at the back of the cave. Yarg swallowed at the size and stature of the dragon. He always seemed to forget how magnificent Nemesis was.

The dragon's massive body was as pitch-black as the darkest night, but nestled in the black was a sparkling glow of emerald-green glitter that shimmered as he moved. His huge body rested on four powerfully muscled legs. He had a long spiked tail, and mighty wings that spanned the cave. His deep yellow eyes glowed eerily in the dimness. Yarg looked deeply into those glowing orbs, and was overwhelmed by the immense age and knowledge that he saw there.

“Nemesis, Great Dragon, ruler of all the magical realms, I seek audience with you,” Yarg said.

Lowering his head respectfully, he waited for Nemesis to respond. Nemesis stood for a long moment watching the troll king. Then, “What is it that you seek?” he demanded. Although his voice was soft, there was threat in the tone.

Despite himself, Yarg shivered as he answered. “A human came to see me,” he said. “He claimed to be brother to me. He told me a bizarre tale. I have come to you seeking the truth.”

Nemesis neither moved nor blinked, but continued to watch the troll closely. “What exactly is it that you want to know, Yarg?” Nemesis responded.

“Is it true? Am I a human cursed into the body of a troll?”

“The truth will either set you free or it will condemn you. Which shall it be, I wonder?” mused Nemesis, as if speaking to himself, before continuing in a voice that was definitely directed at Yarg, “There is an old saying among mortals: ‘Ignorance is bliss.' Are you sure you want to know the truth, Yarg?”

Yarg slowly nodded his head. Nemesis turned his enormous body away and walked further into the cave's depths. Yarg stood watching the massive wings blend back into the darkness until Nemesis commanded: “Follow me.”

Yarg followed.

Nemesis stopped in the centre of the cave and turned again to face Yarg. Growing uneasy under the unblinking stare of those strange eyes, Yarg shifted his feet. The dragon's deep voice vibrating throughout the cave brought goose bumps to Yarg's thick skin, but it was what he said that chilled Yarg to the core.

“You were a human. Through your cruelty, you damned an innocent fairy to a frozen existence.”

Shock held Yarg immobile, but his mind shouted a denial.

Nemesis continued thoughtfully, “But you travelled here with a centaur. There must be
some
good in you if a centaur has gone against his kind to align himself with you.”

For another long moment Yarg was subjected to that piercing yellow gaze, then Nemesis suddenly boomed a question. “Do you seek redemption?”

Yarg had been too stunned at what Nemesis had revealed to have thought ahead, but an impatient twitch of that massive tail told him that an answer was expected, and soon.

Fear of the unknown, of losing what he knew as his life, warred with the desire to return to what he had been told was his true form. “Yes,” he said, surprising himself because he had not realised until he spoke that he had made his decision.

“Then you shall have to face what you have done,” Nemesis replied. “But be very sure—there is no going back. You have seven days to save the fairy. If you fail, her fate will be yours as well,” he warned.

Yarg slowly nodded his head. Drawing his massive wings out, spreading them over the cave's width, Nemesis began to chant:

I call upon the ancient dragon's line …

Let what was bound be unbound,

what was forgotten be remembered,

what was taken be restored.

Release the hidden moments now!

The ancient words twined around Yarg's body and a blinding white light exploded behind his eyelids. Disoriented, he sat down as an onslaught of memories chased each other cross his mind's eye, almost too rapidly for him to absorb. Then the kaleidoscope slowed and settled on one scene.

He is human, standing beside a lake, proud and tall. He sees a tiny creature—could it be a fairy? Intrigued, he follows her through a shimmer, finds himself in another place. Her small body hovering in the air ahead of him, panic in her eyes, she is trying desperately to get him to return to his human world. Frustrated by her denial, he lashes out, saying cruel things to her. Watches in horror as she begins to freeze.

The scene rolled on and Yarg saw …

Nemesis landing beside them, seeing the tiny fairy freezing, scooping her up as he bellows his rage, fury radiating from every scale on his massive body, causing the very air to vibrate.

Nemesis demanding he save her.

Himself not understanding, not knowing what to do, paralysed by shock and fear.

Nemesis, amber eyes whirling with rage, chanting over him.

His body, no longer under his control, shifting and changing—fingers extending and growing thick black nails, bones popping and shifting, muscles contorting and expanding, skin marbling blue, nose lengthening, warts appearing, clothes and shoes tearing then shredding as his body outgrows them, sense of self fading, mind screaming that he hadn't been used to people saying no to him, hadn't realised the effect his anger would have, hadn't meant to …

The scene ended and Yarg was back in the moment. A groan escaped from deep within himself.

Nemesis watched him. “You are not beyond redemption, troll. You have courage within you. You can correct this and save her,” he said softly.

Yarg turned anguished eyes towards Nemesis. “I have been a member of the Guild of Immortals these three years past, have sat on your council and faced you, but you never once spoke of any of this.”

“You were not ready.”

Yarg shoved his hand through his hair in frustration. “Then when would I have been ready? When would you have told me?”

Nemesis tensed. He growled low in his throat, the sound pulsating across the cave's expanse. “You dare to question me?”

Hair standing straight on end, Yarg started to back away. Then realising that he had to face this, had to make it right, he gathered his courage to ask, “No, only to ask your help to save the fairy.”

Nemesis relaxed his body. “Her name is Kaylin,” he said.

Yarg moved his arms from around his knees and stood up. “Kaylin,” he said softly, rolling the fairy's name over his tongue, testing it out for himself.

“Yes,” said Nemesis. “She was so beautiful, filled with the joy of life, kindness in everything she said and did, gentleness in everything she touched. As you well know, King of the Trolls, every fairy has a special quality and a special task. Kaylin was birthed from a rare line, she was the fairy of dreams and emotions. She was also guardian of the blue bells—I'm sure that you would have seen some of her work in the mortal realms. Entire forests and woodlands floors all carpeted with her flowers, a covering of blues and purples for as far as the eye could see. She really was quite gifted. Of course, there are not so many blue bells anymore,” he said, staring accusingly at Yarg.

Yarg hung his head as he realised all that he'd taken from both worlds. “How can I save her?” he asked in a subdued tone.

“Kaylin froze herself as a defence against things her tender spirit could not cope with. To repair the damage will require magic. I will give you a list of the tokens I need for the spell to call her back to us. It must be cast at the new moon, when magic is strongest, so you have only seven days to gather them.”

“But if you can use magic to bring Kaylin back, why have you not saved her already?” Yarg asked in bewilderment.

“Because your act entwined your lives. You caused the harm, you must undo it.”

“But if I am the only one who can save Kaylin, why did you put me in this troll's body? And why give me amnesia?” Yarg asked, his mind still trying to make sense of the puzzle.

Nemesis smiled in an odd sort of way, his big fangs showing.

“There are many questions to be answered there,” he mused. “I needed to keep you in this world where I could watch you because you
are
the only one who could save Kaylin. Why a troll? As a punishment—it was the least like your handsome human self that I could think of. The amnesia was necessary because you would have gone mad if you knew you were a human living in a troll's body before you were ready to right the wrong you had caused,” Nemesis replied.

Obviously feeling that the matter had been explained in full, Nemesis locked his gaze with Yarg's. A warning note in his tone, he asked formally, “Know this: should you not complete your quest, not only will Kaylin remain as she is, but you shall also spend eternity in that same frozen realm. So, Yarg, do you still want to save her?”

At Yarg's nod, Nemesis began to chant again. Before him appeared an ancient parchment, so fine and translucent that it gleamed even in the dimly lit cave. Yarg remembered giving an almost exact replica to Bella, the Fairy of Pure Heart. As he raised his hand to take it from Nemesis, he asked, “I remember sending the Fairy of Pure Heart to you. What became of her?”

Nemesis just smiled softly. “She received all that she deserved,” he said cryptically, “but your concern is with the Fairy of Blue Bells. You should be going … your time is limited,” he cautioned, then turned and disappeared into the shadows at the back of his cave.

Yarg tucked the parchment carefully into the bag secured around his ample girth. He took one last look around before heading back to Folgoo.